Valentine's Day Party
I love hearts, however I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. I'd like to think hearts are holiday neutral, however 'tis the season of love, romance and all things pink and red.
Our youngest daughters birthday is in the summer (in fact both of our girls are summer babies) so planning birthday parties when no one is around is a challenge. I try to organize one soon after school starts however last Fall, one month turned to the next and the next and here we are, February. What a great reason to throw a Valentine's themed party to celebrate friendship and have a lesson from a fabulous pastry chef on making everyone's favourite, cupcakes!
It was a big success. They really got into understanding all the ingredients, measuring with a scale and being meticulous with the icing and decorating. I was so impressed! I highly recommend throwing a Valentine's themed party if you have younger kids. Heck! Throw one for you and your girlfriends. (Just add wine)
Here are some tips if you'd like to throw a similar party:
A small group is perfect for this type of party. We had five, age 10/11 girls.
All of the girls were comfortable in the kitchen so we wanted to make something that would challenge them outside of what they might normally make. We made red velvet cupcakes from scratch, weighing ingredients on a scale for precision, then topped them with Italian buttercream icing and candy treats. Yum!
Plan for 3.5 hours minimum, 4-4.5 if you plan to eat or have other activities organized.
Have plenty of sprinkles and a variety of cupcake toppings available as I did find more went into their mouths than on the actual cupcakes.
Each guest made their own batch of cupcakes amounting to at least 6 to take home and share, a great way to say thank you for coming to my party instead of the traditional "loot" bags. !
So cute, fun and yummy!
Happy Valentine's Day!